How To Feed The Front Line in New York

Written by Sal DiBenedetto – Please contact to have your restaurant or program added to this list!

When you live in New York, food and community are synonymous. Covid-19 rocked our world but in the midst of this chaos, awesome examples of humanity have emerged.

Great programs have sprung up across New York City and Long Island, helmed by both restaurants and awesome citizens. It’s been a great formula to support local businesses and show solidarity to the people battling this pandemic on the frontlines.

If you would like to support local business and donate food to a New York medical team, here are some programs to consider:

Mario’s Pizzeria and Luigi’s Pizzeria created Pizza Cares as an easy way for the local community to get food to hospitals and essential workers. The website allows you to pick from a variety of New York based hospitals and essential workers and send as much pizza to them as you’d like. The website is super efficient and I’ve partnered up with them to give out pizzas to various Long Island medical teams these past few weeks. Learn more and send pizzas here.

Feed Our Warriors x Flip Sigi | New York City

Chef Jordan Andino and his FlipSigi crew created Feed Our Warriors, an initiative that’s keeping New York City’s hospital teams fed. The project takes in donations to fund meal preps, packaging and delivery to NYC hospitals. If you are a NYC medical worker whose team could use the help, you can also send a request on the Feed Our Warriors website.

Heroes For Heroes x Pantano’s | Nassau County, Long Island

The pun plays off the idea of giving people the chance to donate heroes, sandwiches, and meals to various hospital and essential workers. They have four packages available that feed a variety of sized teams, ranging from heroes to bagel platters. You can see the full menu here and donate by calling them or sending money via Venmo to @heroes4heroes

Late Night Lifeline | New York City / Long Island

I love Late Night Lifeline‘s mission to feed medical workers on the overnight shift, who are often overlooked on catering drops. In order to feed the night staff at hospitals, they’re partnering up with a variety of NYC and Long Island restaurants to dish out meals. You can learn more and contribute to their GoFundMe by clicking here.

Stony Brook Village | Stony Brook University Hospital– Tax Deductible

Feed the busy Stony Brook University Hospital teams with a tax deductible contribution through Stony Brook Village’s Ward Melville Heritage Organization. Plus, you’ll be supporting local restaurants like Crazy Beans, Fratelli’s, Sweet Mama’s and Chocolate Works, village businesses who will cater the donations to medical teams at Stony Brook University Hospital. To place your donation, call (631) 751-2244

Robke’s | Suffolk County, Long Island

Robke’s is one of the biggest restaurant names on Long Island and their community is strong as hell. When the Robke’s crew made a donation Venmo and opened up their deliveries to local hospitals, their fans supported heavily. You can get more information on their Instagram or Facebook. Trays of their signature Italian-American dishes have been making their way across hospitals on Long Island. Plus, they’ve been throwing down their own food donations to keep the ball rolling.

Big Belly Que | Suffolk County, Long Island

What a story: Big Belly Que was supposed to open their doors in Smithtown this month… Then Covid-19 hit. In the face of a really bad situation, the owners quickly shifted gears and prepped the kitchen to feed the frontline… Talk about adapting quickly! They’ve opened up a donation page, which you can find by clicking here and their team has already begun dropping tons of meals to local hospitals.

Local Hero Michelle Mudge | Long Island

She’s a local Long Islander, US Army aviator, and total badass. Michelle Mudge is making a direct difference with her GoFundMe (which has gained over $5,000 and counting) by supporting local restaurants and straight up dropping the trays off herself. Even cooler, Michelle is including a variety of teams stressed by the pandemic. You can learn more and see all of her good deeds unfold at her GoFundMe page!

Legends Bar& Grill | Suffolk County

Not only did this Kings Park staple dole out free food to their community in the wake of the pandemic, they’ve also been feeding the front line themselves! Over 1,000 meals already donated on their behalf. They’ve opened up donations via their Facebook but just made it official on a GoFundMe page. If you’re looking to help, find their GoFundMe here!

Dining Bonds | Global

The Dining Bond initiative has become a great index of restaurants around the country (and beyond) who are doling out deals to guests whom invest in a “bond”. Bonds are deals from eateries across the world, with have a range of incentives. Purchases are done through the restaurant and you can find a full list of participants on the Dining Bonds Map.Though this doesn’t necessarily feed the medical front line, it does provide aid and relief to hard hit restaurant staffs.